The South and West Washtenaw Consortium team of Logan Bruneau, Tobias Schmidt, and Jake Stein finished second to win Silver in the Automated Manufacturing Technology at SkillsUSA Nationals.

The competition tests the entire manufacturing process, from creating CAD drawings, to using CAM software to generate toolpaths, and then operating a CNC machine. Each team member has a role, with Schmidt being the CAD modeler, Bruneau the CAM operator, and Stein the CNC machinist.

They were able to manufacture three different parts, assemble them, and show functionality. They also had to communicate issues throughout the process and work through change orders.

“They were able to do this well enough to finish second. I couldn't be more proud of them, as their hard work and dedication paid off,” said Steve Vasiloff, who teaches computer integrated manufacturing and engineering at Saline High School “Placing second in the entire country in anything is an amazing feat, and on top of that they were able to place higher than last year's bronze medal winners from my program.”

Vasiloff said the future looks bright for Bruneau, Schmidt and Stein.

“Tobias is already back in Germany, and will be attending the Technical University of Munich to study engineering. Logan will also be studying engineering, but not nearly as far away as he is attending Grand Valley State University,” Vasiloff said “Jake will be back at SHS and the SWWC for his senior year, and hopefully leading my program to a national title.”